By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
TOPEKA, KS - The Missouri Western women's basketball team built a 47-23 lead over Washburn with 4:51 left in the third quarter.
What followed was a span they'd perhaps like to forget.
The Griffons, after committing just seven turnovers in the first half, committed 17 second half turnovers and were outscored 21-10 over the final 14:51.
Washburn (4-5, 1-3 MIAA) got to within 52-44 with 1:19 remaining, but the Griffons (8-4, 3-2 MIAA) ended the game on a 5-0 run and came away with a 57-44 win over the Ichabods on Saturday afternoon at Lee Arena in Topeka.
It goes down as a win, and the Griffons for the most part dominated the first 2.5 quarters, but the way it ended left a sour taste.
"I just think we lack a lot of discipline," Missouri Western coach Candi Whitaker said. "And I think that leads to our inconsistency. I mean, how many balls can we throw out of bounds? And just forcing things. I just, I don't know what it's going to take for our team to understand that every possession matters."
The Griffons dominated on the glass 43-26, nabbed 12 steals and scored 18 points in the fast break, but they also committed a season-high 24 turnovers. Conversely, Western was able to score 23 points off of 24 Washburn giveaways.
Missouri Western was led in scoring by junior Brionna Budgets, who had 14 points and three steals. Sophomore Abby Bala scored 12 points off the bench, as she knocked down three triples in the first half.
Connie Clarke scored 11 points and managed a career-high 18 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season. Aubree Dewey led Washburn with a game-high 16 points.
MWSU men fall to a hot shooting Washburn team coming off shutdown
The Missouri Western men came ready Saturday. After not playing for 14 days, and after just two practices following a COVID-19 shutdown the week prior, the Griffons hung in.
Heck, the Griffons were up 21-15 with 7:26 left in the first half. Washburn, at that point, called timeout, and things turned around in a hurry.
The Ichabods (4-6, 1-3 MIAA) ended the first half on a 22-5 run and then reeled off a 17-0 barrage in the second half to down the Griffons 76-51 on Saturday afternoon at Lee Arena.
Missouri Western (5-3, 2-1 MIAA) hadn't played since a Dec. 3 matchup at Missouri Southern in Joplin. Their scheduled games on Dec. 8 and 10 against Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State were postponed due to COVID protocol within the Griffon program.
The loss Saturday ended what was a four-game winning streak for Missouri Western, but Martin saw resiliency in his team, as they came into a tough matchup and situation.
"Any time you're shut down, it's hard to get your lungs back and your conditioning back," Martin said. "It's hard to get your cadence and rhythm back offensively and defensively. I thought we had upperclassmen who have been through this and led our group."
Sophomore Reed Kemp led the Griffons with 15 points off the bench. Junior Will Eames had eight points, six rebounds and four assists.
Tyler Nelson paced four Ichabods in double figures with 19 points. He also had seven rebounds, six assists and six steals. Washburn shot a scorching 12-of-24 from three and outrebounded the Griffons 43-30.
Washburn scored 20 points in the fast break and tallied 16 points off of 16 Griffon turnovers. The Ichabods also had 16 second chance points.
"When you look at the second chance opportunities off of (offensive) boards and the fast break, that's 40 points we gave up," Martin pointed out. "Credit to Washburn. They're a good team, they're well coached. They're extremely disciplined. We'll find a way to get better because of this."
"This is a time for us. We're going to be judged by how we respond in these difficult times and have another one Monday. It's got to be a quick response."
Both the Missouri Western men and women are back in action Monday at Emporia State. The women tip at 1:30 and the men at 3:30. Coverage starts at 1 p.m. on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3, 680kfeq.com).
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.